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Publicising the Project and Press Releases
Our
first Press Release dated 28/04/08
PARWICH.ORG
a
community village website with a difference
Launched on March 16th 2008, PARWICH.ORG is a community
website for the villages of Parwich, Alsop-en-le-Dale,
Ballidon and Pikehall, in the Derbyshire Peak District.
Unlike most village websites, which rely on traditional
web page design to display static content, PARWICH.ORG
uses blogging technology to create a lively, frequently
updated weblog, with input from a broad cross-section of
village residents.
To
the delight of its creators, the blog proved an instant
hit within the community, notching up an impressive
10,000 page views before the end of its first month.
The site now averages 3,000 views per week: a
remarkable achievement for an area with only around 500
people on its electoral roll.
The
site has attracted a readership which spreads far beyond
the parish boundaries. E-mails and comments have been
received from “ex-pat” residents with fond memories of
their time in the village, as well as from friends and
relatives of village residents, former and prospective
visitors, local businesses and voluntary organisations,
local government officials, and even the Member of
Parliament for the region: Patrick McLoughlin MP, who
pronounced the site “excellent”.
PARWICH.ORG is the first village weblog in the UK to
engage fully with both the blogging medium and the rural
community which it supports. It is maintained by a team
of seven village residents, and is updated several times
daily. In its first few weeks of existence, the site
has covered the closure of the sole village shop and the
opening of a new shop in the village pub. It has
supported the work of organisations ranging from the
First Responders to the Village Action Group, via the
bowling club and the horticultural society. It has
campaigned for action from the county council on a
dangerous stretch of road, already with some degree of
success. It has also provided a means of offering
collective support for a villager who is seriously ill
in hospital.
In
addition to the blog itself, the site contains many
other pages of useful local information. These include
a calendar of forthcoming events, a directory of local
businesses and services, dedicated “mini-sites” for
various local societies, public transport timetables,
historical information, and a parallel sister site for
Parwich Memorial Hall.
Originally conceived by the Parwich Memorial Hall
committee, PARWICH.ORG is intended not just as a
community-building resource, but also as a means of
attracting support and funding for the rebuild of the
Memorial Hall itself. Of key importance to the success
of the rebuild project is the need to demonstrate that
the village is an active, self-supporting community with
the ability to act on its own initiative, and
PARWICH.ORG provides clear, public evidence of this.
Advertising space is offered to the project’s partners
and sponsors, who will hopefully wish to be publicly
linked with such a remarkable success story.
As
an isolated village, Parwich suffers from classic rural
privations such as the lack of public transport, the
recent loss of the old village shop, and the scarcity of
affordable housing. Despite this, villagers old and new
show a remarkable spirit and ingenuity to overcome these
problems.
Part newspaper, part notice board and part discussion
forum, PARWICH.ORG is actively trying to address the
problems of rural disconnectedness, and to bring an
already exceptionally strong community closer together.
As such, it deserves to be seen as a beacon for any
other villages contemplating a similar enterprise.
For
more details contact
parwich@hotmail.co.uk
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